Part I Vitality: Coastal ports achieve an overall positive trend in cargo throughput growth with bustling activities despite multiple pressures

If 2025 were to be summed up with a few "keywords," how would China's ports define it? Many coastal ports interviewed by Global Times reporters gave the same answer: "responding to challenges." Over the past year, the US pushed its so-called "reciprocal tariffs" policy, global trade experienced sustained volatility, and international industrial chains underwent faster adjustment, with multiple pressures overlapping at different stages of the year. "Responding to challenges" was the reality facing many ports in 2025.

In sharp contrast to external pressures was the robust performance of port operations. When asked about their overall performance this year, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, the world's largest port by cargo throughput, described it as "better than expected," while some other ports said results were "in line with expectations." Such outcomes formed another immediate impression of 2025 for some of China's ports.

Despite a complex and challenging external environment, Global Times reporters found China's coastal ports still bustling with activity. Shanghai Port told the Global Times that container throughput rose 6.7 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months, while Yantai Port said it expects cargo throughput in 2025 to grow 6.9 percent year-on-year.

Ningbo-Zhoushan Port is one of China's key ports for trade with the US. From January to November this year, its China-US route saw throughput rise over 3.5 percent year-on-year. The port told the Global Times that it expects to handle more than 1.39 billion tons of cargo and over 42 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of containers in 2025.

In 2025, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port's container throughput exceeded 40 million TEUs for the first time, making it the fastest-growing and largest-increment port among the world's top five ports over the past decade.

Among 24 Chinese coastal ports with official data released, including Qingdao, Shantou, and Guangzhou, 18 reported year-on-year cargo growth from January to October, with eight exceeding 5 percent. These figures reflect the fundamentals of coastal port operations and provide a relatively clear reference for assessing how ports withstand pressure amid ongoing external volatility.

Monthly data show that the combined cargo throughput of coastal ports experienced only slight fluctuations, with a relatively stable trend. Despite frequent US tariff policy adjustments and growing external uncertainties this year, this steady curve demonstrates the resilience and capability of China's coastal ports to maintain relatively stable operations in a complex environment.

Lianyungang Port told the Global Times that despite some fluctuations in external demand, the direct impact on the port has been relatively limited. The port noted that, leveraging its strategic position along the land bridge and coastal corridor, it has intensified efforts to expand into the Japanese, South Korean, and Southeast Asian markets. This has not only supported growth in foreign trade volume but also enhanced its transit transport capacity. From January to October this year, Lianyungang Port handled 301.34 million tons of cargo, up 6.9 percent year-on-year.

Regarding overall operations of China's coastal ports in 2025, Zheng Ping, chief analyst with industry news portal chineseport.cn, told the Global Times that on one hand, major bulk commodity imports faced pressure, with foreign trade cargo throughput at Chinese ports slowing to 3.7 percent year-on-year in the first ten months, down sharply from last year's 7.4 percent growth. On the other hand, benefiting from factors such as "stabilizing domestic demand" and "supporting exports," container throughput still grew 6.4 percent over the same period, only 1.2 percentage points below last year and well above market expectations.

Among container ports with a high share of export boxes, growth reached 6.5 percent at Shanghai Port, 10.5 percent at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, 6.1 percent at Shenzhen Port, and 7.2 percent at Qingdao Port, showing that major Chinese ports maintained strong resilience and stable growth amid China-US trade fluctuations, Zheng said.